Skiers skip Methven

Press, 28 July 1986, Page 2

Skiers skip Methven

Ashburton reporter

At the height of the Mid-Canterbury ski season, the Methven Youth Hostel is not experiencing the overflows of past years. Patronage has decreased since last year, with an average of only 10 staying each night over the last three weeks, a figure which the manageress, Mrs Margaret Balogh, describes as “very low.”

Mrs Balogh said that as the New Zealand dollar was stronger this year, tourists could get a better ski-ing deal at home. The slow start to the ski season at Mount Hutt might also have put people off, she said. Southern ski-fields were having an excellent season, and might have attracted the extra tourists.

Mrs Balogh added that it was a good season in Australia, so Australian skiers would have stayed at home.

“We rely heavily on a lot of Australians and this year with the New Zealand dollar being a lot stronger they did not come over,” she said. "Things should be picking up by now but they are not”